HCCC peace officers to be armed

Peace officers at the Herkimer County Community College will be carrying firearms College President Ann Marie Murray said during a press conference Monday afternoon.

The college's Campus Safety Department currently has 11 employees 9 of them are peace officers and would be carrying firearms, said Time Rogers director of campus safety. Rogers said the presence of firearms will help officers when performing dangerous tasks such as stopping vehicles.

ANGELICA A. MORRISON

Peace officers at the Herkimer County Community College will be carrying firearms College President Ann Marie Murray said during a press conference Monday afternoon.

The college's Campus Safety Department currently has 11 employees 9 of them are peace officers and would be carrying firearms, said Time Rogers director of campus safety. Rogers said the presence of firearms will help officers when performing dangerous tasks such as stopping vehicles

Murray said the decision was not in response to any particular incident.

"This is really about providing our officers with every tool possible to protect all of us," she said. "I think in today's society, you do have to be more cautious and aware of your surroundings."

"Any time you stop a car, you don't know who you're stopping," Rogers said. "It could be someone who just robbed a bank or had a fight with their spouse. You never know what you're going to get until you get there."

Peace officers will start carrying firearms sometime in 2009, Rogers said. The training for the officers will begin immediately.

Earlier this year, there was a fight that sent two students to the hospital. Rogers said that this fight and other fights have no influence on the decision to carry fire arms.

"It's not a dangerous place. We do make arrests, but it's not too often and it's not that many. I think every campus has issues with fights," said Rogers, who said a presence of a firearm may not prevent fights or other things. "In the incidents we've had a gun would not have made a difference."

Freshman student Isaiah Williams was present during the announcement.

"I thought it was a good decision," said Williams, who is a member of the student government association and a criminal justice major. "The fact of the matter, is that we don't know what's going to happen. So we should take precautions."